While I’m busy typing up decklists, the tournament continues on steadily. During the first round of today, two of the four undefeated players met in the feature match area, Japan’s Shouta Yasooka and Joshua Yang from Singapore.

Yang took Game 1 quickly with his explosive Mythic Bant deck, killing Yasooka while he was stuck on three lands. Yasooka mulliganed Game 2, but killed all of Yang’s threats with back to back Deathmarks and Maelstrom Pulses to clear the way for his Putrid Leech. Game 3, Yasooka mulliganed again, but Deathmark’d his way back into the game, ramping up to Siege-Gang to force enough damage past Yang’s creatures.

You should all know who Yuuya Watanabe is by now, Rookie of the Year 2007, Player of the Year 2009, that kind of thing, but you probably don’t know Raffy Sarto. Raffy usually judges at most Asian Grand Prix events, but somehow, he’s won Grand Prix trials for the last two and has been actually slinging spells. He made day two at Grand Prix Bangkok last year, and is loitering near the top of the standings again here this weekend.

Watanabe took Game 1 with a Day of Judgment, sweeping Sarto’s small Red and White creatures aside and making way for Elspeth and Celestial Colonnade to finish Sarto off. He couldn’t maintain control in Game 2 however, as Sarto overran his defenses, kicking a Burst Lightning to take the match to the third game, where Watanabe was ill-equipped to deal with Sarto’s Hell’s Thunder.

Raffy Sarto defeats Yuuya Watanabe 2 – 1

Sarto asks questions, does Watanabe have the answers?

Feature Match – Round 12: Jason Yap vs Qian Jie Seow

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

During round three yesterday, Brian Kowal was begged by a neighboring player for one of the Mark Herberholz pro player cards he was using for Soldier tokens. Unsure of why anyone would want one so badly, Kowal handed over the card with a shrug. From there, Kowal’s luck turned south, and he was soon out of contention for day two. The lucky recipient of the card, Qian Jie Seow from Malaysia - who was 2-1 at the time - then rattled off five straight wins to comfortably make it through the cut to the second day. His opponent - Jason Yap - is well known local player, often seen competing in or near the top 8 of the Malaysian National Champs.

The huge promotional Alice in Wonderland display inside the Mall attached to the venue.

I was alarmed earlier today, to hear squealing noises coming from near the dealers tables. It turns out Alex West had been cracking Alara Reborn packs in search of Colossal Mights and emitting loud noises every time he would find one. When asked what they were for, both he and Brian Kowal declined to reveal their Top Secret secrets (obviously some kind of Zoo build for GP Yokohama next weekend). They abandoned the idea half an hour later, but were up a Maelstrom Pulse, at least.

While Martin Juza didn’t make day two this weekend, that just gave him for time to spend with his Mother. “GP KL was great. Maybe I didn’t make day two, but being able to give my Mom a birthday gift like this is worth much more than winning a GP.” That reminds me, I should call my Mother...

Crowds gather to watch Player of the Year Tomoharu Saito battle in the feature match area.

Sunday, March 15: 2:20p.m. –Round 14: Interesting Decks From Day Two

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

Martin Juza had a plan this weekend, a White/Blue counterless control deck he got from fellow Czech Republican, Michal Hebky. It didn’t work out too well for him, but both Brian Kibler and Sam Black are floating near the top 16 with this spicy build. As you can see, I wasn’t kidding about Black looking for Fieldmist Borderposts and Divinations yesterday.